Best way to remove bladder snails from a South American lungfish tank?

[SanguineRegis]

Hello! I've been a lurker for a while but never posted before but figured this would be a good place to get advice:

i've got a 110 gallon stock tank set up for my South American Lungfish. Somewhere along the way Bladder snails got into the tank and while they aren't a problem right now, I would very much like for them to be out of my tank.

Are there any fish that could safely cohabitate with a lungfish that would eat the snails? I had considered adding Amazon Puffers to the tank (Colomesus asellus) as they are known for being "friendly" as far as puffers go and would absolutely eat the snails, but im concerned they might harass the lungfish and plecos in the tank and, worse, could kill my lungfish due to their toxins.

I just want these snails out of the tank.



Currently the tank has the aforementioned Lungfish, 6 bristlenose plecos, 1 Rapheal catfish, and 1 marbled swamp eel.

 

[AR1]

Hello! I've been a lurker for a while but never posted before but figured this would be a good place to get advice:

i've got a 110 gallon stock tank set up for my South American Lungfish. Somewhere along the way Bladder snails got into the tank and while they aren't a problem right now, I would very much like for them to be out of my tank.

Are there any fish that could safely cohabitate with a lungfish that would eat the snails? I had considered adding Amazon Puffers to the tank (Colomesus asellus) as they are known for being "friendly" as far as puffers go and would absolutely eat the snails, but im concerned they might harass the lungfish and plecos in the tank and, worse, could kill my lungfish due to their toxins.

I just want these snails out of the tank.



Currently the tank has the aforementioned Lungfish, 6 bristlenose plecos, 1 Rapheal catfish, and 1 marbled swamp eel.

welcome to MFK

 

[Sassafras]

Perhaps one of the loaches, Botia type?

 

[phreeflow]

Amazons are pretty docile and you’d be amazed how many snails they can clean up in a few days. They can be temporary residents and pulled out after eradicating the snails. They will likely leave you fish alone.

Schoutedeni are even more reliable in terms of not bothering other fish but they’re pricey. Perhaps the only concern I’d have are the toxins with any puffers.

I had a large group of Schoutedeni along with a collection of exotic plecos. Went out of town and came home to half eaten puffers and plecos everywhere and the luteus that was sucking on a dead puffer when I came home died shortly after. Lost a ton of $$$$ in this ordeal: L14, several L600, L24, L200, L25, L134, bristlenose, and some others I can’t remember.

Apparently, some number of puffers got stuck in the overflows and died. The plecos sucked on them and died. Other plecos sucked on the dead ones and died and so on. And then to top it off, the putrid water affected more puffers and caused a chain reaction.

It’s not something I’d ever considered but I’ll be keeping puffers in a species tank going forward. All that to say, if you keep an eye on things, it’s unlikely to happen but just be aware

 

[SanguineRegis]

Amazons are pretty docile and you’d be amazed how many snails they can clean up in a few days. They can be temporary residents and pulled out after eradicating the snails. They will likely leave you fish alone.

Schoutedeni are even more reliable in terms of not bothering other fish but they’re pricey. Perhaps the only concern I’d have are the toxins with any puffers.

I had a large group of Schoutedeni along with a collection of exotic plecos. Went out of town and came home to half eaten puffers and plecos everywhere and the luteus that was sucking on a dead puffer when I came home died shortly after. Lost a ton of $$$$ in this ordeal: L14, several L600, L24, L200, L25, L134, bristlenose, and some others I can’t remember.

Apparently, some number of puffers got stuck in the overflows and died. The plecos sucked on them and died. Other plecos sucked on the dead ones and died and so on. And then to top it off, the putrid water affected more puffers and caused a chain reaction.

It’s not something I’d ever considered but I’ll be keeping puffers in a species tank going forward. All that to say, if you keep an eye on things, it’s unlikely to happen but just be aware

Thats exactly what I was worried about with the Puffers. I will likely still get them and have some sort of community tank with them, but that will be its own tank with tetras and such rather than with my lungfish.

Thanks!

 

[Deadeye]

I wouldn’t add puffers unless they are the main focus of the tank. Too much specialized care requirements and comparability issues.
My vote for snail control goes to loaches. When I had amazons, they would rarely even get to snails before the loaches did.
That said, I personally wouldn’t even go for a fish solution. Look into assassin snails - I haven’t kept them but they are known to be good at their job.

As a side note, my banded leporinus is amazing at killing snails. One of the most mean spirited animals I’ve seen though, so I wouldn’t mix with a lungfish.

 

[Trouser Cough]

Squish 'em if ya got 'em !

Toss in a few Assassins if you find that squishing is a little too disgusting for you.

 

[Rougarou]

I second the Assasins. They've never let me down.

 

[jjohnwm]

The satisfying crrrunch! of a snail between your finger and the front glass must be savoured! It's a completely humane death; the thing goes from being a snail to being a chewy unfeeling morsel of meat almost instantaneously, no suffering involved. In most of my tanks, it never even hits the bottom before being scarfed up by an appreciative mouth.

And the most appreciative of all belongs to my Musk Turtle. I collect a couple dozen snails once a week or so and drop them into his tank. He then delights in hunting down each one and merrily crunching it up. It's audible all the way across the room, and usually continues for a day or so until he finds the last one. A good time is had by all...except, of course, the snails...